Well we went the on monday for my Lasses birthday, thought we would try out the newest and most exciting restaurant in sinki (so we had heard) took a party of 17 people, ended up with two separate tables not really able to talk between us, ok that happens no big deal.
To say that service was disappointing is an understatment, it was nearly 40 mins for the wine to get to the table and the starters were there only moments before the wine, seems the wrong way round to me?! also it tok the same amount of time for them to bring us some water. Starters were woefully small, then main courses arrived, well when i say main it was like a slightly larger version of the starter! I had liver at almost 20€ i expected an awesome array and flavour, waht i got was two small pieces of okay liver, this is hardly expensive meat we are talking about here!! the side dish of risotto arrived, one bowl for three of us!!! i could eat that bowl all to myself
The waitress looked shocked when i dared to complain about the dinner, i know finn's dont like to complain much but this was too much the bill was the best laugh, it had a cloakroom charge on it and they wanted 1€ for three glasses of water! i only drank one just for a kick off! when this was queried she dropped the charges from it very quickly.
MMM maybe this should have been in rant section, never mind. In all Food was quite tasty but not worth the premium they are charging! portions are woefully small and everyone left hungry.
Does anyone know what market this restaurant is aiming for, its not the fancy end cause it aint that good and itsd not the budget end as the portions are too small and prices too high? it seems to miss all marks?
i now knwo why i stick to the good restaurants i eventually found here. Bar nine and Weeruska, excellent at believable prices!!
Anyone tried cochon?
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Hank W.
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See now that was a fancy restroom where you go to be served by snails.... or was it they serve snails. Not a prole eatery at all if they got snails on the menu. I usually went for a kebab before I got even near to a place like that. 
For a decent prole eatery - Salve, Sea Horse, Ruiskumestari... haven't tried risuhokki since it renovated.
For a decent prole eatery - Salve, Sea Horse, Ruiskumestari... haven't tried risuhokki since it renovated.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
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Karhunkoski
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I can't speak for the restaurant you tried, however there does generally seem to have been an increase in restaurants serving up "belly-buster" sized portions, perhaps resulting in a lot of obese people...or at least contributing towards it.
I rather like a restaurant that serves enough food so that I leave with food in my stomach, but not bloated, but of course not needing a sandwich when I get home.
I guess it's horses for courses.
I've eaten at some "small-portion" poshish restaurants and can honestly say that after 3 or 4 courses, I've never left hungry.
PS Someone once told me that the way to stay slim is to always leave the table knowing that you could have eaten a little bit more.
I rather like a restaurant that serves enough food so that I leave with food in my stomach, but not bloated, but of course not needing a sandwich when I get home.
I guess it's horses for courses.
I've eaten at some "small-portion" poshish restaurants and can honestly say that after 3 or 4 courses, I've never left hungry.
PS Someone once told me that the way to stay slim is to always leave the table knowing that you could have eaten a little bit more.
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Yes, I thought the same thing to. Right after one of the cr@ppy reviews there were a couple of wow! Fantastic! Great Value! reviews.
Call me old fashioned, but I prefer restaurants where you can sit and relax in a quiet corner. Cochon looks like an upmarket fast food place in the middle of a shopping mall. It's too bright, brash and noisy for me (and I have never even looked at the menu, but I thought the bakery looked boring - better choice in Hakaniemi market or even Stockmann). I wandered through by accident on my way out of Stadium the other day.
Call me old fashioned, but I prefer restaurants where you can sit and relax in a quiet corner. Cochon looks like an upmarket fast food place in the middle of a shopping mall. It's too bright, brash and noisy for me (and I have never even looked at the menu, but I thought the bakery looked boring - better choice in Hakaniemi market or even Stockmann). I wandered through by accident on my way out of Stadium the other day.
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littlefrank
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jessesuomi
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This may sound like a disgruntled ex employee kind of assesment, and maybe it is but I will try to be fair....
Cochon, the upstairs in my opnion is just not worth it and the hype is just driven my a marketing machine. I was there for a month before it opened and 2 weeks after it opened. As a worker I was hoping that with the pedigree that it had with HV that there would be something more that I was used to working in (michelin 3 star). The fact is he is not there so much if even at all.
The people leading the kitchen have too much on their plate, pun intended, to have much control over whats going on upstairs to be able to get out consistent good food. The ingredients are there and ARE good.
Another huge failing of the place is that they have taken most of their workers straight from school or those that have limited experience and are willing to work for very low wages compared to the market value. This in turn could explain why there really is no wow factor with the food.
As far as the glowing reviews, I agree that they seem to be a bit suspicious.
Many seem to see the set up as kind of a hip place to get food and be seen by those "cool" or "popular" people. And so be it. They pay the bills. After moving on, being the first chef to call it quits, I have heard by many industry people that it just isnt that good. I am glad I got out when I did. Others have followed.
The marketed demo seems to be focused on those younger and have money that are willing to buy some coctails and hang out and listen to the DJ while sucking down some hip drinks. Its been wildly successfull with the Swedish Finns. Hmmm
The bakery though....
The woman in charge of making the breads and such, it IS top notch. Its very goood. Maybe it doesnt look like much but the product that I had tasted while there was very good indeed and you would NOT find that quality at Stockmann.
In my opinion, Cochon is more of a novelty. Much better places for food and value out there. But if you want to be seen by primped up 20-30 year olds and feel with the "in" group, well there you have it.
Cochon, the upstairs in my opnion is just not worth it and the hype is just driven my a marketing machine. I was there for a month before it opened and 2 weeks after it opened. As a worker I was hoping that with the pedigree that it had with HV that there would be something more that I was used to working in (michelin 3 star). The fact is he is not there so much if even at all.
The people leading the kitchen have too much on their plate, pun intended, to have much control over whats going on upstairs to be able to get out consistent good food. The ingredients are there and ARE good.
Another huge failing of the place is that they have taken most of their workers straight from school or those that have limited experience and are willing to work for very low wages compared to the market value. This in turn could explain why there really is no wow factor with the food.
As far as the glowing reviews, I agree that they seem to be a bit suspicious.
Many seem to see the set up as kind of a hip place to get food and be seen by those "cool" or "popular" people. And so be it. They pay the bills. After moving on, being the first chef to call it quits, I have heard by many industry people that it just isnt that good. I am glad I got out when I did. Others have followed.
The marketed demo seems to be focused on those younger and have money that are willing to buy some coctails and hang out and listen to the DJ while sucking down some hip drinks. Its been wildly successfull with the Swedish Finns. Hmmm
The bakery though....
The woman in charge of making the breads and such, it IS top notch. Its very goood. Maybe it doesnt look like much but the product that I had tasted while there was very good indeed and you would NOT find that quality at Stockmann.
In my opinion, Cochon is more of a novelty. Much better places for food and value out there. But if you want to be seen by primped up 20-30 year olds and feel with the "in" group, well there you have it.
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Hank W.
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Well, you've been around so you know how the restaurant scene changes. They're tapping in on a certain segment with the novelty, trying to get on the wave. Theres been several pretty decent places (in my opinion) that came, tapped on the wave, but failed to attract the "masses" as those looking for novelty were going somewhere else already.jessesuomi wrote: In my opinion, Cochon is more of a novelty. .
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
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jessesuomi
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True that.
Of course I hate to see some place open and close but it shall be interesting to see what will happen at Cochon. Alot of money went into the place, alot. A restaurant needs to have good food at affordable prices or crappy food at dirt cheap prices to stay open. Im not sure Cochon has the right combo right now. Drinks alone dont pay the bills.
Of course I hate to see some place open and close but it shall be interesting to see what will happen at Cochon. Alot of money went into the place, alot. A restaurant needs to have good food at affordable prices or crappy food at dirt cheap prices to stay open. Im not sure Cochon has the right combo right now. Drinks alone dont pay the bills.
Bought a croissant for sustenance while Xmas shopping in town yesterday and it was a definite: Better than Average. Maybe 7.5 / 10 (global scale, much higher on a Finnish scale 
). A tad on the dry side as I like mine oozing butter but it was quite flaky and messy which is always a good sign, IMO.
Also bought a loaf of biblical proportions, very yummy and nice!
). A tad on the dry side as I like mine oozing butter but it was quite flaky and messy which is always a good sign, IMO.Also bought a loaf of biblical proportions, very yummy and nice!
I think the variation in reviews on eat.fi are because some people honestly do like it, and sometimes the waitstaff has better days than others. (I watch the IPs, so Cochon would have to go to serious effort to get so many friends to review, plus would have to develop registered reviewers from nowhere as well)
I've personally had mixed experiences that actually reflect the reviews as a whole--one time I got horribly neglectful service and the food was just ok, and another time the service was fantastic, and the food was really good(Sunday brunch--maybe it's thanks to the bakery lady?).
I'm glad Helsinki now has a loungy kind of place where I can, if the mood strikes me, get a smoothie and eggs benedict and french toast for breakfast at noon. It fills a little gap that I miss from when I lived in the US and could go to diners that served similar stuff. The only other places to get food like that in Helsinki are even more formal than Cochon(ie Kämp Cafe). I do wish they'd get their act together in general though. I suppose they must be working on it.
Regarding reviews in general: I've often been tempted to delete "suspicious" reviews, but have also been careful not to overstep editorial bounds, (ie deleting reviews just because I think they're wrong) and often later on I've actually met the people who wrote the review I totally disagree with and found that their opinion, as bizarre and unlikely and suspicious as it may have seemed to me on this side of the screen, was in fact simply their opinion, and they're not only entitled to it, but they probably represent a bunch of other people who feel the same way.
Still, I'm working on the next version of eat.fi at the moment, where I'm going to put more emphasis on registered reviewers, which should help make the reviews more reliable.
I've personally had mixed experiences that actually reflect the reviews as a whole--one time I got horribly neglectful service and the food was just ok, and another time the service was fantastic, and the food was really good(Sunday brunch--maybe it's thanks to the bakery lady?).
I'm glad Helsinki now has a loungy kind of place where I can, if the mood strikes me, get a smoothie and eggs benedict and french toast for breakfast at noon. It fills a little gap that I miss from when I lived in the US and could go to diners that served similar stuff. The only other places to get food like that in Helsinki are even more formal than Cochon(ie Kämp Cafe). I do wish they'd get their act together in general though. I suppose they must be working on it.
Regarding reviews in general: I've often been tempted to delete "suspicious" reviews, but have also been careful not to overstep editorial bounds, (ie deleting reviews just because I think they're wrong) and often later on I've actually met the people who wrote the review I totally disagree with and found that their opinion, as bizarre and unlikely and suspicious as it may have seemed to me on this side of the screen, was in fact simply their opinion, and they're not only entitled to it, but they probably represent a bunch of other people who feel the same way.
Still, I'm working on the next version of eat.fi at the moment, where I'm going to put more emphasis on registered reviewers, which should help make the reviews more reliable.
